1. Field of the Invention
Charge air cooling system
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many years it has been realized that when air in the after flow of a turbo-compressor is cooled the operating effeciency of a two or four cycle Diesel engine is increased. Such cooling has been attained by utilizing heat exchangers that employed either air flow or engine coolant fluid.
Although air flow has been employed in the past on automotive vehicles for this purpose, it has the operational disadvantage that the equipment required is bulky and cumbersome, is expensive to install and requires substantial maintenance.
Cooling of air from the turbo-compressor using the engine coolant fluid does allow the use of equipment that is relatively small, but such equipment must be incorporated in the original engine design, is costly, and must periodically be replaced. In addition, using engine coolant fluid, limits cooling of air from the turbo-compressor to 175.degree. to 190.degree. Fahrenheit.
A major object of the present invention is to provide a charge air cooling system that overcomes the major operational disadvantage of prior art devices of this nature, in that, it is less expensive to install and maintain, has a low consumption of water, and requires no water pump.
Another object of the invention is to supply one that operates only intermittently in response to the demand need of the engine, keeps the engine clean, and minimizes the build up of hard carbon in the engine.
A still further object of the invention is to supply one that is operated by air at reduced pressure from the air brake system of a vehicle, and one that visually indicates to the driver of a vehicle both that the invention is operative and that water is being injected into air prior to the latter flowing to the intake manifold.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred form thereof.